God’s Love Revealed Amidst Difference | Ava Flory ‘25
“Well, I just don’t believe that.” The blunt phrase hung in the air as the ten of us fellows realized just how different our views of God were.
Preempted by readings like Desmund Tutu’s “God is Not a Christian,” it was no surprise that this Horizon Fellows’ gathering gave rise to conflicting ideas. The meeting itself was called “Loving Our Neighbors Amidst Deep Difference.” But rather than feeling concerned by our newfound division, I was fascinated. More interesting than who did or did not believe in Hell was that our diverging beliefs were just now coming up. The ten of us fellows had been in an intentional community for eight months. We had heard each other vulnerably share life stories and asked empathetic questions to show they were seen and cared for. We had spent late nights gathered around a living room discussing callings and commitments. We exchanged energetic waves and big smiles when passing each other on our way to class. Somehow it had not mattered what words we used when describing the details of God. It was enough that we were all pursuing a relationship with a loving God and eager to pour out the love we found to those around us.
I used to care very much about people using the same words I do to describe God. When I first started dating my boyfriend several years ago, I remember countless conversations with me asking him to define words like “sinner” and “redemption,” just to make sure we were on the same page. In the process, I also asked a lot of people around me their definition of religious jargon, and I realized several things about the language we use. One, each person’s word associations were tinted by their own individual experiences. To fully understand what people were saying, I needed to try to understand where they were coming from. This injects empathy and “seeking to understand” into my work as a listener. It also frees me a lot. I do not have to agree with each person’s word choice at face value. Even better, I don’t have to convince them to learn my personal dictionary. I don’t have to do the exhausting, if not impossible, work of getting everyone to speak like me. Secondly, I think all words fall short of describing the indescribable. Our words just hint at our infinite God. And because I am not familiar with infinity, I am not surprised when some expressions of God feel unfamiliar.
These two realizations introduced a powerful emotion when encountering people with religious differences: curiosity. With this addition, I surrender the temptation to pronounce my judgement over other’s ideas and instead create space for God to reveal God’s self and great Love for me in a myriad of ways. Imagine a kid so busy flapping his gums talking about what his birthday cake looks like (the icing colors, the swirls, etc) that he never pauses to let his father spoon the cake into his mouth. Rather than being preoccupied with labeling people’s expressions of God, I hope I can take enough time to stop flapping my gums and instead taste the sweetness of a God who pours out his infinite Love in creative and original ways.
Moreover, I believe God is desperate to show love to us. My personal belief is of a God who took on flesh and died a painful death on a cross because God so desired an intimate relationship with us and to show God’s great love for us. If God was willing to do that, I think God just may be willing to work through a variety of different words, denominations, and religious expressions to show God’s self and God’s Love. I need only to open my eyes and listen with curiosity. What I find incredible is when I start to look for God’s Love all around me, I see it.
This has deep implications for forming a community amidst religious differences. When I start to see God’s Love through the diverse expressions of others, I tend to like them and their diverse expressions a lot more. When I don’t feel a responsibility to make us all talk the same, I can create freedom-filled spaces for others. And perhaps most importantly, when I look for it, I see how God is breathing through all of us.
It becomes a lot easier to be in community with people who are different from me when I start to see God and God’s Love revealed through them. So bring your original words, denominations, and differences. I am eager to see more of God and God’s Love. And who knows, we might just end up being in a tight knit community of ten college students for 8 months; a community with differences, but with differences that can’t negate that we have been sharing God’s Love with one another the whole time.